Caedmon & Charon: A tale of brothers
by DeeP ci
Summary: Two yrs after JakX, the hero Jak vanishes without a trace, leaving only a bloodstain and everyone believes he is dead... chaos ensues. In this chaos, twin brothers are born, not knowing their true importance, or their heritage. Set about 6 yrs after JakX
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Legends told of a great hero, the greatest the land had ever seen! He appeared out of nowhere, on an uneventful day and fell from the sky. The evil ruler Baron Praxis captured him and for two years put him through horrible torment, until the day he escaped with his faithful friend. And after he escaped, he joined the underground movement, to throw the evil baron off his throne! And then he found out who the Metal head leader was, and decided to get him too! He was JAK!

The small boy held up his wooden stick valiantly. "And I will-" he began, but he was cut off as he fell face down into the mud.

He sat up and shook his bright blue and green messy hair out of his face. "No fair," he said with disdain. He looked like Christmas had been cancelled as he sat in the mud. "I wannint wedy yet, Charon..."

The other child, wearing nothing but a grey shirt and black baggy pants huffed, standing over his muddy brother, looking at him with as much remorse as a bird would have for a worm. Not much.

The muddy child was beginning to get teary. "MOOOOOOOMM," he wailed.

Charon stomped his foot, "You always ruin the fun..."

"What is it Caedmon, honey? I'm busy at the moment..." came a voice from the kitchen.

"Charon's not being _FAIR_," Caedmon whined. "He pushed me into the _MU-UD_!"

A woman appeared at the door and sighed, her long, dark blue hair was tied behind her head in a neat ponytail. "Charon, be nice to your brother."

Charon pouted and gave Caedmon an 'I'm-going-to-kill-you-cuz-you-ruin-everything' look. But he just stuck his tongue out in response, his ears waggling a bit with the motion.

"Mommy when will poppy be here?" asked Caedmon innocently.

The boys' mom just sighed and looked at the clock inside the doorway. "He should be here very soon. And you need a bath now, you're all muddy." She smiled affectionately. "It's time for you to come inside anyway. Come along, you two troublemakers."

Caedmon hiccoughed and his mom came to pick him up, wiping some of the mud off his face. Charon pouted but didn't say anything, he just followed quietly.

It wasn't very often poppy came and visited, he used to come a lot but he had recently been able to travel less and less because of his old age. Happily, though, this time he was staying for a whole month. Luxuries like this were usually unheard of to the youngsters and they were both very happy about him coming, even though Charon didn't like to admit it.

Their mom gave them a bath together, like usual, and after they were clean and dry, let them play in the house for a while... under the watchful eye of Tess, a friend of the family. She was happy enough taking care of the boys, and making some light conversation with their mom while she was cooking.

Caedmon was having fun playing with a few loose batteries, light bulbs and some blutak. He was having fun setting up little light displays on the living room table, whilst his brother was watching the latest Combat Racing updates. The Kras City Championship had started up again, and racing was one of Charon's passions.

His mother didn't show any resistance to this, it just made her a little bit sad, for some reason. He figured it must have been because of his father being a racer...

Caedmon yelped in shock as he accidently knocked his little test over. He quickly cleaned it up and put the stuff away to go and sit on the couch, absentmindedly observing his brother who was randomly, to him, anyway, yelling out 'no's and 'you should have used the turbo there's and maybe a few 'that was sloppy's as well. But he wasn't paying attention, so hey.

Tess had moved on to the talk of rising clothing prices, and how barely anything would fit an ottsel like her when there was a knock at the door.

There was silence and anticipation in the air for several seconds.

The knock came again and Tess said, "I'll get it."

Just as everyone had hoped and expected it was the boys' grandfather.

He entered the room and greeted his daughter before walking into the living room. Caedmon catapulted into him, gently of course, and wrapped his slightly pudgy arms around his grandpa's waist. "Poppy!" shouted the four-year old with pure unadulterated joy.

Charon waited for his brother to release his octopus-grip on their poppy before going and giving him a light hug.

He laughed and ruffled both the boy's hair, both having a slightly different reaction though both positive.

Tess giggled and smiled. "I'd better be going. I'm leaving the city tomorrow, and I haven't even begun to pack yet. See youse later!"

With whole-hearted parting words, Tess left the family of four. Their mom set the table as the males were talking and playing together. She was deep in thought as she quickly finished her work.

"Oh," said their poppy suddenly. "I almost forgot in all the excitement..."

Mom raised her eyebrow suspiciously, as her father brought out a wooden box and set it down in front of the boys. "Happy birthday you two!" he said, opening the lid.

Two small creatures were curled inside. One was grey-black, one was cream. They looked like small cats, with long monkey tails and large back legs, like an ottsel's. The boys looked at them with awe.

"These," explained their poppy, "are monkits. The most loyal and devoted animals you could ever find, intelligent and clever too. They're a very rare endangered species, so I trust you will take care of them?"

The boys nodded vigorously in awed unison.

"Good," he said with a smile. "These two are twins, just like you. Very rare... Go on, take them. Give them a hold!"

The boys both picked out the furry animals gently, giving them a small cuddle and pat. They purred gently but did not open their eyes.

"What do they eat?" asked their mom.

"Anything a person can," her father replied. "And easy to care for too," he added with a wink.

She laughed, "But I still expect you two to eat your veggies!"

"Awww," they moaned together.

Still smiling, she said, "Dinner is served."

They ate dinner with little silence, Caedmon asking his grandpa so many questions and a few words between father and daughter. Charon sat there in almost complete silence, his small monkit (he named her Ambite) curled on his lap, eating the veggies he wasn't so intent on. He managed to do this without his mother seeing though.

Caedmon had little time for eating; he was using his mouth so much. But he soon started to lose his voice and lapsed into silence realising that Amico, his monkit, was eating his soup. "Hey!" he protested, but she just gazed into his amethyst eyes and licked him on the nose, causing him to blush, Charon to stifle a laugh and the older two at the table to chuckle lightly.

"Not funny," he mumbled, asking for another bowl of soup.

The boys had begun to fall asleep before they finished dinner, their small furry companions curled up around their necks, already deep in sleep.

Their mom smiled and tucked them into bed with their newfound friends and turned off the lights.

She walked downstairs to finish off her dinner and talk in private with her father.

"Any new news?" she asked casually, poking a floating vegetable absentmindedly.

Her father sighed, "Not much, but... I did find an interesting artefact the other day."

She raised her eyebrow, "oh?"

With a small shuffling noise, he withdrew a small clock-like orb. The interesting thing to note was it had an interesting insignia on its surface; the symbol of the House of Mar.

She took a sharp breath. "This is exactly what I've been looking for! Where did you find it?"

"In... the mountains," he said conspicuously, passing the artefact to her waiting hand.

She looked slightly downcast. "Oh..."

He nodded whimsically; they didn't like to talk about _that _place. "But, I knew that you needed it. How far along have you come?"

"Almost finished... but I cannot activate it-"

"Without the help of eco," he finished. "I know."

"And as far as I know... even an eco sage cannot activate it."

"Only the heir of Mar?"

She looked hurtful, and avoided the gaze of her father.

"Yes."

**BEWARE!  
**~A.S.

_Yeah, not much to say to this. Please R&R if you have the time, I would really like to hear some feedback!_

_Thanks~!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Charon woke before anyone else, even the little monkit Ambite didn't wake before him, as he had expected.

He gently lay her down on his pillow and tucked her in, careful not to wake the sleeping feline.

Then he crept down to the reading room, an extension of the living room used for study and time out, extra careful not to wake his mom or grandpa.

He then looked up and down the bookshelves, some of them were quite old, and took out an Eco Theory book. He sat on one of the couches and began flipping through the pages.

Charon was an excellent reader and writer for someone his age. He even had a better vocabulary than most. His brother usually got more attention than him, so books had been one of his favourite pastimes. He read about racing tactics, how to service broken zoomers, local history and folklore.

But his favourite topic, above all else, was Eco and Precursor Artefacts.

He had never told anyone, but it was really what fascinated him.

After a few minutes of reading he heard a small mew and scrabbling at the door. He sat up with a jolt, but when he looked it was just Ambite. He smiled in relief and scratched her chin.

She then curled up on his shoulder, curling her tail across the back of his neck and started purring lightly.

He smiled a bit and continued reading.

One thing that he hated about eco, well it was really the only thing, was that he had no idea how to manipulate it. He could sense it and touch it without serious consequence but he couldn't _do_ anything with the stuff.

It frustrated him beyond belief.

Almost an hour later, Charon was beginning to hear noises from upstairs. The child then hastily put the book away and scampered off into the living room to sit on one of the couches there. Ambite was mildly bothered, but she curled up on his chest just before his mom came downstairs.

Charon smiled inconspicuously at his mom, who smiled back, albeit absently, it wasn't unusual for Charon to be the first up, it happened nearly every day.

"Can you help me with the breakfast this morning, Charon?" she asked.

Charon nodded, keeping the smile but it no longer reached his eyes. "Kay."

They were just making a simple fruity bread (sort of like pikelets or fruitcake), but Ambite was happy... Charon fed her small fruity bits when his mom wasn't looking.

His mom was very weary today, and it made him a bit worried. She was obviously deep in thought about... something. He just didn't know what.

Not only that but she looked like she hadn't managed to get much sleep. He'd only seen her like this a few times, and she'd always pulled through before... but it was hurtful for him to see her so... depressed.

The bread was in the oven when Caedmon came downstairs, yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes. Amiko was drooped over his head like an exhausted living hat and Charon sniggered under his breath as Ambite clicked disapprovingly at her sister.

Charon gave her a nod, saying 'I completely agree' to her silently.

She looked at him knowingly with approval and seemed to say 'good!' in return.

It took a moment for their mom to realise Caedmon was up, but when she did, she gave him a warm Good Morning Smile.

Charon sighed a little. 'She never gives me that smile,' he said to Ambite.

Ambite climbed up his arm, purring and rubbed cheeks with him; 'you still got me,' she seemed to say.

He smiled thankfully and stroked her gently.

Caedmon crashed on his moms lap, "What's for brekkie," Except it sounded like 'Whasor eeky' because he yawned in the middle.

She stroked his back and pulled him onto her lap properly, "Fruitybake."

Needless to say, Fruitybake was her name for the fruit-filled bread.

Charon sighed, he felt so left out.

Wordlessly, he began searching for the TV remote. Stupid things never had buttons on them anymore so you either had to find the remote of go without. It was annoying but he didn't mind it right now.

Anything to take his mind off his emotions...

But he found it painfully quickly, so he turned the TV on and just pretended that everything was fine. He wasn't really watching, it wasn't something he thought of as interesting. The guy on the screen was using 'Smart Alec' talk, as Charon called it. It was some boring news broadcast.

Charon's mother, however, was paying close attention to the news.

'Adults,' thought Charon with a huff.

Ambite seemed to just find it amusing, as she brushed her tail against Charon's nose lovingly.

He then relaxed in the chair he was sitting in and smiled, stoking Ambite's fur. For the first time in what seemed like ages he really felt truly... happy.

He knew it was silly, he'd felt happy plenty of times but it was like Ambite was banishing all the grief and sadness he'd bottled up for so long. He kissed her on her head and whispered, "Thanks."

She looked at him lovingly and mewed, curling up and resting.

'_She can sure be lazy sometimes_,' Charon mused.

Ambite shot him a glance, 'yeah, whatever.'

By the time their grandpa was up, the boys were both fully awake and the Fruitybake was cooling on a wire rack by the kitchen sink.

With a few 'good morning's passed around, the four settled down to eating breakfast and even Charon had something to say.

And after everyone had finished and their mom was washing the plates they'd used, Tess dropped by to say goodbye to us. She was flying out of Silem back to Haven City shortly. She also dropped off a strange red and black donut-shaped piece of machinery.

Caedmon was very sad to see her leave, but he was like that with pretty much everyone. Amiko was very curious about their guest, sniffing her hand and staring at her intently and Charon couldn't help but notice Tess was a little nervous.

As soon as Tess left, their mom rushed to finish off the dishes and quickly asked her father to keep an eye on her sons before she snatched the red ring up and hurried to the garage.

Charon and Caedmon knew she was building something. They weren't allowed to see what it was yet, though.

With a sigh Charon made off towards the study to grab a book. It was about bird species. Lots of pictures... but he wasn't really pating attention, even as Ambite tried to pounce on one sitting on a branch.

Charon's eyes were unfocused as he was deep in thought.

Then his eyes lit up. He had an idea.

He just hoped he wouldn't get caught when he did it...

**BEWARE!**  
~A.S.

_Please R&R ^^;_

_And if you want to see a really good J&D Vid go you Youtube and search for "Jak and Daxter - Destiny". And for laughs look for the Jak and Daxter Frenzy vids by Jakgoeswee or the vid called "Daxter Shares His Childhood". Hilarious._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Planning. It had taken just one day of planning. Charon was ready to go and break the rule. He had to know, he just had to.

Ever since he had begun to learn of eco and it's properties and artefacts of the Precursors, something had begun to stir inside him. Something he couldn't name, a feeling... a void that needed to be filled. Something untouchable, yet completely tangible. Something he could see but not reach.

Charon had snuck out of his room, this time taking Ambite, and a few hours after the middle of the night he came downstairs with her.

The child crept into the dark room, his only friend curled upon his shoulder chittering nervously. "It's ok, Ambite. It's ok," he said softly, turning on the light.

Cold light lit up the room, every detail crisp and burned into his memory.

He looked at the veiled machine with awe and suspense.

Part of him was drawn to the strange and unknown thing, but the logical part was screaming for him to go the other way.

The part that wanted to know, that part that held jealousy and curiosity...

It won out.

He then ignored Ambite completely except to tell her, "Wait over here then. I have to know."

She whined in a very un-feline way but complied, hopping off his shoulder to perch upon the workbench. As much as she wanted to be with him, she knew something was amiss and something that was not meant for her was underneath that cloth.

Ambite hissed uneasily as Charon got closer to the cloth covering the machine radiating energy. 'This is not a good idea,' she seemed to say with her chittering.

Charon looked back at her, his hand an inch from the cloth. "Ambite," he said softly, "please be quiet... you could wake someone... please."

Ambite looked at him worriedly. 'Just be careful,' she said within her huff as she curled up, staring at him with cautious eyes.

"Thank you," Charon breathed in relief.

Then his eyes once more looked upon the cloth. 'Whatever is under here,' he thought to himself, trailing off.

He looked at the cloth with determination and pulled it off with a single, fluid movement.

The cloth drifted to the floor like a feather.

Charon gasped.

The cloth had been muffling the energy radiated by the machine! Taking it off had caused it to hit him full force.

He didn't want to know anymore.

Logic and common sense had taken over.

It wasn't safe here and this machine—whatever it was—wasn't, shouldn't, be meddled with.

Charon moved to cover the machine back up but he brushed his hand against one of the metal sides, causing it to zap him.

He jumped back, barely suppressing a yelp.

Ambite snapped to attention, her fur up on end and a hiss coming from within her.

Caedmon woke with a start, something wasn't right. He leapt out of bed, waking Amiko who quickly leapt onto his shoulder, detecting something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Caedmon quickly bolted downstairs, quietly as he could and with a speed he didn't know he had.

Charon hadn't been in bed. Something was definitely up.

His suspicions were confirmed when he found his mum's lab door open. Panic and worry rising within him he flew over to the entrance and looked in anxiously.

The machine Charon had touched was not active, but neither was Charon. He was kneeling motionless on the ground, a hand clasped to his chest.

Caedmon was just about to charge in when he saw Charon quiver and fall over.

Ambite was mewing and hissing at the energy radiating through the air, wanting to help but unable to get any closer to the energy as if some force was holding the little monkit back.

Caedmon only just picking up the energy as he slowly, cautiously, walked into the room. It was strong and had a slightly dark tinge to it.

It made Caedmon's hair stand on end.

He shrugged off the feeling, his brother was in trouble and he was the only one who could help. He motioned for Amiko to go and help her sister calm down before he himself came over to the imposing machine. What was it for? He shook his head angrily, no time to question how it's made. He had to help Charon!

Caedmon grabbed the cloth and covered most of the machine, but his eyes caught on a symbol on the side.

Frowning, he wondered where he had seen it before, but nothing came.

Then he realised that it was the seal of Mar! The seal of _Mar_!

But what was his mom doing with something like that on one of her machienes? That was the real question.

Shaking his thoughts away he moved to cover up the machine when he saw that the symbol had been touched by small fingers. His brother had touched part of the symbol and passed out because of it.

He frowned.

Caedmon was smarter than most gave him credit for. He may not be able to use big words, but he could comprehend stuff most his age couldn't, but above all... machines... they were his forte.

So it was unusual for him to be stumped by something like this.

Caedmon bit his lip and examined the symbol more closely. He then saw that one half was untouched.

And without really thinking about it he reached out to remove the dust.

When he touched it he realised what he had done and moved to remove his hand, but he didn't. What he felt wasn't what he expected. It was a cold warmth flowing from his fingertips down his arm and calming his body and mind.

"That wasn't so bad," he thought to himself. "So why did it knock out Charon?"

It troubled him to see his brother down like that.

But then he was knocked rather rudely out of his thoughts. Charon was down!

He covered the rest of the machine and hurriedly moved to Charon's side. He was in some sort of pain and he was _powerless_ to help! Caedmon loved his brother, he really did.

To see his usually quite brilliant and strong brother down like this was... more than unsettling... it was like though Charon's pain, a part of Caedmon was dying, being eaten away, too. But he knew that Charon wasn't dying.

No, if Charon was dying Caedmon knew his feeling of hurt and loss would be so much more fierce and powerful, almost unbearable—possibly even maddening.

Yet all he could think right now was 'not like this...'

"Pull yourself together," Caedmon yelled mentally at himself, a tear rolling down his cheek. He sniffled. "I need to move him from here... the bedroom is too far so I will move him to the study couch! But how will I get him onto the couch... I will cross that bridge when I get there."

He nodded thoughtfully.

And so it was decided.

Caedmon then stood up and wiped his tears away. He grabbed the blanket he usually used when he was sitting in the corner, sipping hot chocolate, watching his mother work on one of her many projects.

He gently rolled Charon onto the blanket, completely unaware of the two sets of curious eyes following his movements with wonder.

Caedmon dragged Charon into the study, making sure the monkits were out before turning off the lights and closing the door.

Then he was quickly presented with the problem of getting Charon onto the couch. He really hadn't thought of that.

Charon wasn't a heavy person, but Caedmon wasn't a strong one either.

He sighed and rubbed his ear, a little habit of his when he was thinking about something especially puzzling.

Then he sighed. He was just going to have to try and roll him up.

After a couple of unsuccessful tries, Caedmon had gotten Charon onto the couch. He was a little impressed and a little worried Charon hadn't woken up after all that ruckus.

Charon was usually a light sleeper, no, he was _the_ light sleeper. Mom had said it was probably a thing he inherited from his father's side of the family, and never said anything more on the subject.

Both Caedmon and his mom were heavy sleepers, and you probably wouldn't wake grandpa short of a D.E.B.—Dark Eco Bomb—explosion.

Anyway, those kinds of weapons were illegal worldwide. That much dark eco could take out an island, blow it away without a trace. He'd seen pictures of the devastation it could cause and they were _not_ pretty.

But his thoughts were once again going off-track. He looked upon his brother with worry and tucked the blanket over him carefully.

Charon looked really pale, paler than usual! And that was scary. What was happening to him? Even Ambite was worried.

'She's just fretting over his wellbeing, just like you,' purred Amiko. 'All will be well, she is seeing a change in him already.'

Caedmon and Amiko couldn't really 'talk', but they could interpret what they were trying to say without words easily. Something to do with the power of the bond between monkit and man, grandpa had said.

Caedmon's brow furrowed with worry. He pulled his kneed up to his chin as he sat on an armchair, keeping an eye out for any change in his brother's condition.

What was happening to him right now?

If he knew he probably would have been even more worried.

**BEWARE!**  
~A.S.

_I finally worked up the muse for this! =D_

_Poor Charon! =C_

_R&R please! Or I will be forced to give you a cookie D_

_... Oh, wait... that's not a good motivator... Hmm..._

_WAIT! I'LL GET IT EVENTUALLY! D=_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Charon felt a jolt of something. A spark from the metal had coursed through his body.

It was painful. It hurt.

It burned.

Not fire or blood, but electric energy seemed to run through his veins. He vaguely remembered clenching his hand to his chest as if to try and stop the pain.

It was like nothing he had felt before. Ever.

He was only four!

He doubted most adults had had this much pain in their entire life let alone in a matter of minutes. Or was it hours? He had no idea anymore. It could have been days. He hadn't the faintest idea.

Someone was by his side, someone. Their presence calmed him and helped to ease the pain.

Then the presence disappeared.

'No! Don't go,' he wanted to shout, but he couldn't move, open his eyes or even speak.

He wanted to whimper or something, anything would be better than this!

Then the presence returned and his nerves seemed to calm, just by having them around helped him.

He was moving! He could move!

...No he couldn't.

Someone had moved him. Someone was moving him.

Where was he going?

He felt a new wave of electric fire but he could do nothing about it, the presence had left him again. But it was back just as fast this time.

Good.

The pain was beginning to subside when someone tried to move him again. He didn't want to move anymore, but the force was persistent and he suddenly felt himself off of the hard cold floor and onto a cool, soft thing.

It felt like some sort of bed or couch or something.

He felt someone cover him with some sort of blanket, but it was cosy.

A new presence rested on his chest, not as powerfully pain-killing as the other, but made him feel comforted and safer. This presence was more familiar than the other in a way, the other presence felt familiar, yet alien.

The pain began to ebb and he faintly heard someone speaking, he tried to focus on that, those noises.

He wanted to return to them.

There were three presences now, the one on his chest comforting him with a low purr and a gentle warmth, the one helping the pain go away and another who was simply... being.

He felt his senses returning slowly.

But they were all stronger than before. He could smell Ambite on his chest... so that's who it was... and he smelt the faint scent of grease, fruit and rust, trademark scent of Caedmon. He smelt wood and paper and the smell of the old computer. He was in the study. He could smell the carpet, and the small amount of mould on the roof.

He then got his hearing back more and more, stronger and keener. He heard the gentle breathing of Ambite, the low hum of the computers even when they were off, the sound of the eco running through the lightbulb—wait, that has a sound?—and the breathing of another monkit, just a little out of sync with Ambite's, slower by a fraction and quieter so it was far away.

That was Amiko, which means... the last sounds of soft crying and sniffing and breathing was... Caedmon?

Caedmon was here?

And that meant... he knew all about what he had been doing in the garage.

But mom wasn't here... so did that mean he was off the hook? Was Caedmon really too worried about him to even think about the rules he had broken.

And if Caedmon was the healing presence, then that meant he too had broken the rules.

Maybe that was it. Maybe that was why mom wasn't here, because he might get in trouble too.

Resentment welled up inside Charon, it was a burning feeling but unlike the electric fire it wasn't really pain, more like hurt.

If Charon had been able to move at that moment he would have thrown something or punched something. He wasn't usually so violent but something had changed. Something was different. He just didn't know what.

Charon felt a hot feeling in his chest, sort of like warm water. It washed over him but didn't leave him wet. He could hear Caedmon shifting over in his chair and heard him walk over to sit on the couch, he could almost feel Caedmon looking at him.

He was a little bit angry but for some reason Charon just couldn't hold onto it. Like some sort of slippery fish he couldn't hold onto his resentment and anger while Caedmon was so close.

For some reason Caedmon was being a healing presence. Why did it have to be him? Why not Ambite? She was so much easier to get along with, in his opinion.

Charon then heard Caedmon sigh and snuggle up in a separate blanket, the one they usually kept on the couch for colder days.

Caedmon sniffled a little bit and Amiko curled up with him and purred.

Charon heard Caedmon's breathing begin to slow and calm, until he was sure that he was asleep.

The calmer Caedmon became the more Charon's pain seemed to ebb and heal. He didn't understand it. Nothing like this had ever happened before when he was angry or hurt or annoyed when Caedmon was around.

Something really was different from before.

Charon opened his eyes slowly and would have gasped out loud if he hadn't caught himself.

By the Precursors, he was almost completely blinded by the light!

What the-? This room was usually quite dark, even with the light on! And only one of the lights was on, too. None of the stronger, brighter reading lamps were on.

He hissed softly and clenched his hands over his eye sockets before taking them away and cracking his eyes open a fraction of the way.

So bright!

He slowly slipped from the blankets and over to the computer table, and sifted through the draw, retrieving a pair of extra dark sunglasses from within.

He slipped them on and looked around, thank goodness—it worked.

He could see fine now... apart from the fact it looked like broad daylight now, that is...

Charon didn't get it.

First his hearing and sense of smell become more acute, _then_ his sight becomes less tuned to light. Add to the fact Caedmon was a walking pain-killer and emotion control box... and, well, things were getting pretty weird.

He then tilted his head to look at Caedmon. He wondered if anything was changing for his brother, or if he had just become a freak of nature alone.

But he saw a flash of unease on his brother's face.

Was he having some sort of nightmare?

"Well he's not the only one," thought Charon.

xOxxxOx

Caedmon felt uneasy sitting by his brother. It was a strange thing... he felt uneasy near his brother but he couldn't keep away.

He managed to write the unease off as simple worry for his brother's wellbeing, though.

He sighed and snuggled up close in the spare blanket, worriedly looking upon his brother. He sniffled, if only he'd gotten there sooner, he might have been able to help Charon...

Amiko curled upon his shoulders reassuringly and purred, 'what's done is done, don't dwell...'

'I can't help it,' he 'said', cuddling her close and rubbing his nose in her soft, sweet-smelling fur.

It was like that he fell slowly into dreams.

_Blue fog. Blue-white fog._

_It was all around him. He couldn't see though it._

_He wanted to hide, but there was no escape._

_But he saw a light in the distance, a black and purple light._

_Reaching out to it he noticed a fleeing figure, but he couldn't follow, the light was more important._

_He touched the black light. It burned his fingers but he kept on touching it. Something about it was all too important._

_It burned his hand and his fingers turned black and purple, it crept up his hand and hurt more and more._

"_**enough!**__" he shouted in a loud roaring echo that demanded obedience, and the fog drew in towards him and made his skin glow with a white aura._

_It filled his body with a cool feeling, like ice but not like ice._

_Cold, but not unpleasant._

_Then the black retreated from his hand, his skin was pale, but it was a strangely healthy kind of pale. The pale skin chased the black from his fingertips and past it, chasing the black from even the light, which became a brilliant blue and white._

_He kept his hand there and stared at the light with tilted eyes._

_**Only you can heal the damage that was done to him.**_

_**Only he can heal the damage that was done to you.**_

_**The balance is delicate, alone you are two, but together you are one.**_

_Caedmon wanted to question the resounding voice that was not his own, but the world around him swirled and fell apart with a BANG._

Caedmon almost jumped out of his skin at hearing the banging noise, but when he calmed his heart rate down he realised it was just his brother, accidently knocking something off the chest of draws.

And then he realised they were in their room.

"Howw didai geddin 'ere..." Caedmon said absently.

Charon coughed nervously, "I... uh... had a bit of trouble... but I... uh... carried you up here after I woke up."

Caedmon nodded, accepting the answer.

That was when another couple of facts hit him, "You carried me! You were zonked out and hurt real bad!... and why are you wearin' sunglasses? It's light in here but not that bright."

One of the strange things about Caedmon was he only talked properly when he wasn't actually thinking about doing so.

Charon was annoyed a little that Caedmon had noticed the glasses thing but he wasn't stupid, after all—no matter how often he accused his brother of such a thing, it just wasn't true.

"I, well, it... was... I... um," said Charon, trying to come up with a plausible answer.

Caedmon was staring at him.

Oh, great.

**BEWARE!**  
~A.S.

_For a four-year-old, Charon sure is angst-y at times._

_I still haven't figured out a good motive for Reviewing... hmm... Maybe a bone? No, that won't work..._

_I KNOW! D=_

_... No I don't. Anyway, have a good day/night! =P_

_Two in one day. I'm ona roll!_


End file.
